I really enjoyed this!! I can’t believe it took me so long to read this. It seems that everyone loves this book and I understand why. I did watch the movie before I read the book. There are some things that I liked more in the book but some that I liked more in the movie!

This book is so adorable and it really is a feel good one! Yes, there’s the tense moments but it’s so worth it. I will say that my husband and I had the hardest time figuring out who Blue was in the movie. In the book, I would have figured it out much sooner!

Guys, I love Simon! He’s such an amazing character and I loved his story arc. He is so sweet, caring and funny! His relationship with Blue, even through email, was so great. I loved his relationships with his friends too. Oh, how I loved his little sister!

One person, I wasn’t as fond of in the book, is Leah. Considering that she’s kind of absent the last half of the book, I feel like I’m missing something. Not only that, she was just kind of rude. I get that she’s self-conscious and so on. I just couldn’t connect with her at all. Her character was just a bit stand offish. I definitely could relate to what people are saying about her, so I’m disapponted that I couldnt connect. I just missed something. I’m not sure what happened there.

I think that Albertalli did an amazing job with the message, the plot and the characters in this book. I really enjoyed it. There is something that was missing for me. It could be that I watched the movie the day before and loved it so much. Maybe some of the differences had me knocking this down a star. If you have not seen the movie, please do. It’s so well done and my husband and I both loved it!

Overall, this is a great, feel good contemporary and you should definitely pick it up!!! I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. 🙂

Has anyone read her second book, Leah on the Offbeat? Is it worth it to read?? I’m not sure that I want to because I just didn’t really like Leah in this book. I’ve also heard a lot of mixed reviews on that one.

Thanks for reading!

Books Are The New Black

I am completely shocked that this book does not have more hype. It was beautiful. 

I did not know, until after I started it that it's a retelling of the opera, Turandot. I don't really know anything about that opera, well I didn't. This story takes place in the Mongolian Empire, which was new for me. I don't think I've ever read a story in this era, especially since it's the 13th century! 

Jinghua is the main character, who is a slave to the Kipchak Kanate. Although, you start to realize there is a lot more to her. She's got a lot of secrets from her past and Bannen really makes you wait for it. I was so ready to know more about what was really going on. 

Khalaf is pure good. He is so kind and I'm so sad that he ends up with the life he's dealt. I know that not every story is a happy ending but he deserved it. 

Timur, who is Khalaf's father, definitely won me over. I really disliked him at first. How could he not love and respect Khalaf? He's like the best man ever! Then as the story goes, you learn a lot more. Some men really like to hide behind a facade. He reveals much more to Jinghua and then he actually starts show he cares. I loved his relationship between he and Jinghua. Their banter was always funny too! 

The plot is so good. The story jumps back and forth between the present and past. The beginning is a bit slow, most of it is them traveling together. You really get to see the relationship between Jinghua and Khalaf really grow. I think that Bannen did a really good job with the history in this book. I felt like I've learned a lot but I wasn't sitting in a lecture. I advise you to read the author notes after! There's a couple of chapters of information and it's really enlightening. 

"And Apples

Always Apples"

The ending broke me. If you can't stand a book without a happy ending, do not read this. Even though, it broke my heart and made me shed some tears, it was beautiful. It was so well done and it's definitely going to stay with me for a long time. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it, if you can stand a book without a happily ever after! 

I want to thank Edelweiss and Balzer + Bray, HarperCollins for an e-ARC of this book. 

You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black

I've seen so many booktubers talk about this book. I'm not sure why. I enjoyed the book enough but it wasn't anything that blew me away.

This is a book about friendship and a mystery mixed in. A girl finding her way after the loss of her best friend. She delves into magic, to bring back her best friend, since she's convinced she was murdered. They have 7 days for these girls to find the murderer, before they go back.

I liked the concept of this book but I just don't buy it. A girl who didn't show any magical aptitude is suddenly so powerful? Also, she doesn't really believe in it but yet... she's amazing at it. Nope. I also wish that they would have been more like ghosts and less like zombies. The mental pictures were not good. haha.

I did enjoy the Undead Girl gang.  I really liked how these girls who didn't like each other alive, band together to figure out what is going on. I liked them all together and there were some moments that were really sad and really funny. The friendship that came about was really nice.

I liked Mila and I loved that she was Mexican but I hated that it's only stated. For example, there have been some books lately with Mexican characters. You can tell throughout the whole book, not just the beginning, that they are Mexican. I'm talking from the way she speaks, the food she eats and so on. I would have liked more of the cultural influences. I am probably just biased because I am Mexican. I honestly wouldn't have known she was, if it wasn't stated early on.

Overall, this was entertaining enough but I had issues with it. I think I was expecting to get a lot more from this book.

Books Are The New Black

I went into this book without any expectations but I ended up really enjoying it! 

A historical fiction book with zombie hunters? It's basically all I knew going into this book. It was about A LOT more than just that. There's so much going on here, politics, racism, religion, friendship, death and finding who you are. 

I really liked Jane. She was so outspoken and never took no for an answer. She didn't back down from a fight and she is so clever. Her acting and lying is basically what saves her and others in this book. It's quite entertaining too. 

Although, I liked Jane, I think I loved Katherine! She had such a great story and was so developed and interesting. I almost feel like she could have been the main character. I do think that she does fight for that claim though. She's black but light skinned enough that she can pass for white. It ends up putting her on this path that she despises but it's to save her life and others. I was in awe of her character and how she handled herself. To be pretending to hate what you are, is such a horrible spot to be put in. 

I really liked the relationship between Jane and Katherine, as friends. They start off not liking each other (of course) to ending up friends and saving each other. I am not sure how I feel about the boys in this book. I think there's way too many love triangles blooming and I'm not okay with that. 

This book grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. I really loved all the nods to history and the fact that this could really be reflective of the times. For instance, the whole immigrants thing, Mexico and the wall and all that. I don't want to get all political but I can definitely see this happening. Not just to one group of people but ALL who are not white. It would include me, since I'm Mexican, even though my skin passes as white. It's scary and yet not surprising. As they say, history repeats itself and that's something that is mentioned in this book. 

I think one of my favorite parts of this book were the letters. We start off with tidbits of letters from Jane to her mom, before each chapter. Later on in the book, it switches to letters from her mom to Jane. It was a really nice touch and I really liked that. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I didn't realize there was some controversy until I started reading reviews on Goodreads. Whatever, I'm not about all that drama. I read books for enjoyment! I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. 

This book was all over goodreads and had a pretty good rating. It looked cute and sounded interesting so I thought, why not? I really is cute. There were some things about this that really bugged me. I'll get to that.



First...



It's a story about a family of 3 sisters and their father coming together after their mother had passed. They are a little unit and are there for each other. The eldest sister is leaving for college and just broke up with her boyfriend, who is a family friend. Lara Jean is the middle sister who now has all the responsibilities. Her younger sister and her get into a fight that cause Kitty to send some very personal letters. Lara Jean always wrote a "goodbye" letter after she was over a boy. Well, she never meant to actually send them and kept them in a hatbox. Her sister finds them and sends them out. Most of them are several years old, so you can image what they boys think when they receive them. So confusing, right?



Unfortunately, one of them is to Josh, who was just dumped by Margot (Lara's sister). They were friends before and Lara really crushed on him. Turns out that he did have a crush on her too. So it turns into this whole scenario where she is trying to convince him she has moved on. She ends up just faking a relationship with another boy, Peter. He also had received a letter because he was her first kiss.



Anyways,how in the world can someone who is in love with another person just turn it off? Lara Jean, claims that she felt nothing for him the 2 years he was dating Margot. I don't know that I believe that. Then when she dumps him, all the sudden her feelings are back. Worst of all, is how confusing Josh is. He gets the letter and forgets that he's miserable and wants Lara Jean? The whole book, I had to remind myself that this was a Junior in high school. I felt like she was 12 year old girl, maturity wise. I honestly felt that her younger sister was more mature. She was really so naïve. I understand that they didn't go out much and it was always sister time but really? Also... I can't believe there is a second book. What could possibly happen that would warrant another whole book? I thought everything was pretty much resolved but I guess not.


I did really like Kitty. She was the youngest sister and so funny. I had some laugh out loud moments. I think that when she always tells Lara Jean she's more of a baby than her, it's pretty much true.


Like I said, it was cute. It is definitely a book for a younger audience. I will probably read the second book just because I need to know what happens!

*** Attempt two ***

I think this is a 2.5/5 stars for me. I didn't have a graphic handy, so I'm  just saying it. :)

I originally started this book when it first came out and I DNF. I don't think I was in the right mindset to read this book then. I recently decided to pick it back up and give it another try. I did finish it this time. 

I feel like a lot doesn't really happen in this book. It's about 400 pages and nothing really happens until the end. It was a really slow-paced and bored me at times. I now remember why I DNF it before. I pushed through it and started to get interested when it was about over.

I was also really annoyed with the love triangle that was thrown in there. I'm not sure if it was due to magic or real but it was really odd. I really hope that what happens at the end, is the end of the triangle. It might be one of the poorest ones I've ever read. It just was way out there. So, I'm hoping it's more about magic at play. So for now, I really dislike Joseph! 

I don't really like any of the Queens. I mean, they all are kinda ehhh and I didn't find myself hoping none of them would die. I just didn't really care about one over the other. I didn't think any of them had much personality or really had me connecting to them. I was more interested in Jules and she's not even a Queen! Can we re-do this book and have her as a Queen? haha. 

I was really disappointed with this book. I'm glad that I tried it again and finished it this time. I will be reading the second book. I think that now we know most of this book was wrong, it will get much more interesting. I hope anyways! I have also heard that it's much better, so we will see! 

You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black
****First attempt *****

I didn't finish. I just couldn't get into this book.

I did it! I read the second book and I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard that this one was better but my expectations were really low.

I kind of felt like this book was on a different level than the first. Maybe the author just felt more comfortable but it was much improved.

I FINALLY connected to the characters. They all had so much more personality in this book. In the first book, it was like they were a shell of a person. In this book, they are so much more developed and all have their separate opinions and thoughts. Jules is still my favorite character, by far. She’s just so awesome and I feel for her so much. I’m still convinced that she’s going to be way more important than anyone else.

I also really liked Arsinoe in this book. She is so strong and fierce. She doesn’t have any expectations of living and will totally sacrifice herself. She will do anything for the ones she loves. She keeps being underestimated but I think she’s really one of the stronger queens.

Biiilllyyy!!! Oh my gosh. Guys, I love him so much and I’m terrified about what his future is going to be. I hope it’s amazing but I just don’t know. He’s such a sweet, good, caring guy!

I am so fascinated by Katherine. I really want to know more about what exactly is going on with her. She was just so creepy and dark in this book. I still can’t hate her though. There is so much there and this girl has been through so much. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

The plot actually flowed much better in this one. There is so much going on from the very beginning. We start off running and it doesn’t let up until you are finished with the book. It’s a good-sized book and I read it in one sitting. Unlike the first book, I was not bored at all. I just had to know what was happening next.

I still hate the Jules/Joseph/Mila love triangle. I feel like it was just so necessary and still annoys me. I just don’t really like Joseph either. I can’t forgive and forget.

Overall, this was a much improved book to the first. I know that a lot of people are on the fence with this one. I was too. I don’t regret suffering through the first book because the second book was worth it. I know that the third book comes out soon. Maybe wait and see how that fares before starting this series? I’m actually kind of worried about it but I’m in it now. I am really curious to see where all these characters end up and how things turn out. I do not like that there are 4 books! Ah!

You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black

This was our book club pick for this month. I have heard mixed reviews on this book and it kind of made me hesitant to pick it up.

Dimple just wants to live her own life. She craves independence and a career. She wants to go to a summer program to get a taste of what it will feel like in college. It's also a huge deal to win because it can kick-start her career. What she doesn't know, is that her parents have an ulterior motive. There's a boy, Rishi, who knows they are being set up but Dimple has no idea. 

Dimple becomes furious and doesn't want anything to do with him, yet she can't help herself from being around him. If she ends up falling for him, will it derail her life goals?

This was a cute contemporary but I had some issues with it. There were some things I liked and some that I didn't. 

I really didn't care for Dimple. She was so mean to her mom. I understand that she's a teenager but she just got angry and didn't communicate. She was also really rude to Rishi. She would unleash her anger on him and it was completely misplaced. He didn't deserve that because he was such a nice guy! She was also very controlling! She didn't even give Rishi a chance to voice his opinions on their project or their talent show. She decided and told him what to do, even if he had objections. 

Speaking of Rishi, I liked him. I did find his absolute life plan a bit annoying at times but it happens. I just thought he was so nice to Dimple when sometimes he shouldn't have stuck with her. 

I did love the culture that I got to read about in this book. There's not a lot of books out there with Indian American characters. It was refreshing and A+ for diversity! 

I figured this book would be a quick contemporary read. Nope. This book was slow-paced and it took me a lot longer to get through than it should have. I really didn't like how I was less than 100 pages to the end and we barely made it to the half way mark of their program. Literally, the last 50 pages is the last 3 weeks of the program, plus the ending. There was just way too much time spent on the beginning of the story and the ending was so rushed. The plot of this book was a bit confusing because it just revolved around Rishi and Dimple, mostly Dimple. There's a great opportunity to shine a light on something that most people know nothing about, coding. It didn't seem like it took much work. Most of the time they are not working on it but just going to dinner. Missed opportunity, I think. 

It was cute but I would really suggest many other contemporary books over this one. I can't wait to discuss this one at book club! haha.

Okay, I’m prepared that I’m going to be in the unpopular opinion. I struggled with this one.

I liked Mini. I thought she was funny and really was the strongest of the two. I think she found some confidence and I was really happy that she did. I did not like Aru much. She was a bit bratty and I hated how she kept saying that she lied all the time. Although, she turned it into imagination. I get it… you have an imagination but it doesn’t make it right to lie to everyone around you. I did think that she and Mini did make a good team and I liked that. Sisterhood is great. For the most part, the characters are very one dimensional.

I also liked Boo and his answers to Aru’s sarcasm. It was funny.

I thought the Indian mythology was such an interesting concept BUT I didn’t get enough of it. It was a bit confusing at times and there was just not enough explanations. I would have loved more expansion on this, since it’s supposed to be a huge part of the book. I feel like it missed the mark on something with huge potential here.

I love the whole 5 sisters idea and the girls actually being the demigods, instead of boys. It’s quite refreshing right? I really was intrigued by the idea and it could still be great. I just don’t know that I’m going to be reading the next book.

I was really unsatisfied with how things ended up with Aru and her mom. After all that, she still doesn’t discuss anything with her? How in the world can you say there’s a lot to talk about and then ignore it? She’s part of this huge world, where she’s going to be in training, yet there’s no discussion about it. I find that really unrealistic!

I think my biggest problem was that this was VERY middle grade. It read that way and I think it bored me and kind of annoyed me. It felt like it was trying too hard with all the references and jokes.

It was a cute story and it had so much potential but I just couldn’t really connect with this one. I know a lot of people love this but it was not a book for me! I had a hard time rating it but decided to be generous, since I didn’t hate it.

You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

Well, I’m definitely a fan of V.E. Schwab now. I just really love her writing style. I had no expectations and I had no idea what this was about. I think because I didn’t have any expectatins, I loved it so much more!

Victor and Eli are roommates in college. They find that they have a shared interest in Extra-Ordinaries, people with abilities. Until one day, they push the boundaries between right and wrong and life and death. They wanted to know how to create them. In the end, it makes them enemies.

Ten years later, Victor is released from jail. I’m not going to spoil why! He then learns that Eli is being called a hero. He’s out for revenge but then his focus starts to change when he realizes that Eli might be the villain and not a hero.

I really enjoyed this one. I loved the supporting characters that were introduced throughout the story too. I freaking loved Sydney. She’s only 12 but so much more mature. She has been dealt a crappy hand. She meshed so well with Victor and Mitch. Speaking of Mitch, he might have been my favorite. He really reminds me of a gentle giant. He met Victor in prison and he’s an expert in hacking. I love the relationship that he and Sydney have.

One of my favorite things about all the characters is that there is so much gray area. No one is all good but yet no one is all bad. The lines between good and evil are so blurred. They are making these decisions and not all of them are good. Yet, most of them seem necessary. You don’t really get a clear picture of whether there are heroes or villains in this story.

Schwab does an amazing job jumping from past to present. I never got lost or confused. The way she writes these characters is brilliant. I really could have just read these characters without really much plot. Especially, the interactions between Victor, Sydney and Mitch. hah.

I didn’t like the ending so much. It felt like it was rushed and kind of predictable. I am so excited for the next book though. I can’t wait to jump back into this story with these amazing characters.

You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black